Abstract
In an effort to reduce the global burden of non-communicable disease, the World Health Organization released a Global Strategy for Diet and Physical Activity in May 2004. This commentary reports on the development of the strategy and its importance specifically for physical activity-related work of NGOs and researchers interested in increasing global physical activity participation.Sparked by its work on global efforts to target non-communicable disease prevention in 2000, the World Health Organization commissioned a global strategy on diet and physical activity. The physical activity interest followed efforts that had led to the initial global "Move for Health Day" in 2002. WHO assembled a reference group for the global strategy, and a regional consultation process with countries was undertaken. Underpinning the responses was the need for more physical activity advocacy; partnerships outside of health including urban planning; development of national activity guidelines; and monitoring of the implementation of the strategy.The consultation process was an important mechanism to confirm the importance and elevate the profile of physical activity within the global strategy. It is suggested that separate implementation strategies for diet and physical activity may be needed to work with partner agencies in disparate sectors (e.g. urban planning for physical activity, agriculture for diet). International professional societies are well situated to make an important contribution to global public health by advocating for the importance of physical activity among risk factors; developing international measures of physical activity and global impacts of inactivity; and developing a global research and intervention agenda.
Highlights
Physical inactivity is recognized as a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and ranks between the second and sixth most important risk factor in contributing to the population burden of disease in westernized countries [1,2,3]
The regional consultations were an important mechanism for developing the global strategy
They affirmed the relevance of physical activity in most World Health Organization (WHO) regions, and added emphasis to physical activity within the overall strategy
Summary
Physical inactivity is recognized as a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and ranks between the second and sixth most important risk factor in contributing to the population burden of disease in westernized countries [1,2,3]. This was a qualitative review across the regional and country consultations, public web forum, NGO and private sector reports, and UN agencies consultations It describes 'how the world viewed the important physical activity issues in 2003', from the perspective of the global strategy. Monitoring the implementation of the Strategy was thought to be important – documenting what happens by country, region and at the NGO level would provide a useful framework for assessing the actions undertaken relevant to the Global strategy This process evaluation should be supplemented by the development of national monitoring systems, to assess and compare epidemiological trends in physical activity behaviors over time. Large scale partnerships with the private sector around physical activity need to be considered carefully and ethically before rushing into conjoint program development
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